The tape feeder has been known as a supply device of the electronic components in the component mounting device. The tape feeder intermittently feeds the carrier tape holding the electronic components to supply the electronic components to the pickup position by a transfer head of a component mounting mechanism. In the vicinity of the pickup position, the carrier tape is fed pitch by pitch through a tape feed mechanism in a state where the carrier tape is guided along a tape travel path disposed within a main body of the tape feeder while an upper portion thereof is covered with a cover member. The electronic components are picked up at the pickup position by a transfer head of the component mounting mechanism through an opening portion for removal of the components, which is disposed in the cover member.
The carrier tape that holds the electronic components is generally supplied in a state where the carrier tape is winded on a supply reel. When a new carrier tape is mounted, a tap mounting work is conducted in which the carrier tape drawn from the supply reel is inserted from a tape mounting portion, put at the pickup position, and set on a lower surface side of the cover member. The tape mounting work requires a complicated operation that the carrier tape is pushed against the tape travel path from above by a retainer and set up in the main body, in a state where a feed hole of the carrier tape is correctly engaged with a feed pin of a sprocket configuring the tape feed mechanism.
For that reason, in order to facilitate the tape mounting work, there has been known that the taper feeder configured such that the tape guide that guides the carrier tape in the vicinity of the pickup position is detachably attached to the main body (for example, refer to Patent Document 1). According to this configuration, there is advantageous in that the carrier tape can be set up in the tape guide in a state where the tape guide is detached from the main body, and the workability of the tape mounting work can be improved.